Police said Tuesday that Catholic Church officials have refused to press theft charges against a Simi Valley priest in connection with the discovery of $60,000 cash in his apartment and a parish-owned car after a Hollywood drug arrest. The staff of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and St. Peter Claver Church in Simi Valley have ignored police pleas to press charges against Father David Piroli, said Lt. Richard Klamser of the Simi Valley Police Department.

A judge said Friday that he would soon issue a written decision on who is entitled to about $65,000 confiscated from the car, office and bedroom of a Simi Valley priest once accused of stealing from his former parishioners. Superior Court Judge Allan Steele did not specify when he would issue his opinion on the fate of money seized by police from Father David Dean Piroli.

The attorney representing a Simi Valley priest on charges he stole money from his church told a Ventura County Superior Court judge Tuesday that he needs more time to prepare for trial. But Father David Dean Piroli's case, which already has been continued twice, is still scheduled for trial Oct. 4, though the judge said the attorney may request another continuance later this month.

A Catholic priest charged with embezzling money from two parishes to which he was assigned will not be given access at this time to the churches' financial records, a judge ruled Friday. Superior Court Judge Allan L. Steele said he will allow the attorney for Father David Dean Piroli to renew his request when the case returns to court March 26. In the meantime, attorney David P. Callahan, who represents Sacred Heart Church in Saticoy and St.

Burbank Airport officials had just completed a presentation to the Glendale City Council on their decision to scrap a decades-old plan to move the airport's passenger terminal when they were followed at the podium by two surprise guests. Burbank City Councilman Dave Golonski and Vice Mayor Stacey Murphy, both of whom slipped out of their own council meeting minutes earlier, took turns at the podium blasting the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority for its "irresponsible decision."

A Simi Valley priest accused of embezzling parishioners' collection money appeared in Ventura County Superior Court on Wednesday, surrounded by supporters, to deny a new allegation. Prosecutors filed a special allegation of excessive taking against Father David Dean Piroli, alleging that the Roman Catholic priest took more than $50,000 from St. Peter Claver Church in Simi Valley, where he served as assistant pastor for two years. Piroli, 36, denied the allegation. Judge Allan Steele set Jan.

A Simi Valley priest accused of embezzling thousands of dollars in collection money from two churches where he served as assistant pastor appeared in Ventura County Superior Court Wednesday to answer a county grand jury indictment on two counts of grand theft. Father David Dean Piroli, 36, waived speedy arraignment to which he was entitled and agreed to enter a plea on the felony charges at an arraignment next Wednesday.

One week after warning attorneys not to delay the start of the Sept. 7 trial for a Simi Valley priest charged with embezzling funds, a Ventura County judge on Wednesday agreed to delay the trial anyway. Superior Court Judge Allan L. Steele set the new trial date for Father David Dean Piroli, 37, for Oct. 4. It is the third trial date Steele has set.